Russian Terrorist or Good Girl?
by Skylar Harte
Summary: What if a girl was raised in a Russian Vigilante group? And what if the CIA Black Ops used her to take down this group and killed her parents in the process? And what if they then sent her to s spy academy to train her to be a "Good Girl" spy? R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

To the untrained eye she was just another sixteen-year-old boarding school girl getting ready for yet another day of classes. But to those who knew her, Skylar Golovin was a lethal trained assassin and a force to be reckoned with. She could take down five guys three times her size in less than ten minutes, and without breaking a sweat. But if you're reading this then you have the level ten clearance required to know about the black ops school for spies that passes as a boarding school for the authority challenged. And you would also know that Skylar Golovin isn't just any sixteen-year-old spy; but that she was trained from the age of three in the ways of Russian assassins. Her parents were Russian terrorists who wanted to train her to take over their group. The CIA found her and her parents when she was thirteen and worked through her to bring the downfall of the terrorist group. Since then they have taken her under their protection and kept her training going, now, however, she's working for them, not against them.

Chapter One

Skylar Golovin stood in front of her full-length mirror and checked her reflection. As usual at eight thirty-three a.m. this was as good as it was going to get. At five foot nine Skylar was slim and slender, with long dark brown hair that looked like it was purple in certain lights. She wore her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, and her Hathaway Academy uniform. The plaid skirt ended just two inches above her knees, and the top two buttons of the matching jacket remained unbuttoned, showing the white tank top that she wore underneath. She gave her ponytail one last tug as her roommates rushed her out the door. Once again, she had made them late for breakfast, and they would have to hurry if they wanted any good food left.

They hurried through the hallways of the school, and entered the dining hall just before they closed the door to anymore enterers. In usual Hathaway style, the meal was conducted in a foreign language, as all meals here were. This time it was Russian, and a dialect that Skylar was most familiar with, having learned it and spoken it with her parents when she was younger. Many people assumed that she would resent her parents for being terrorists and dragging her into the wonderful world of espionage, but she didn't really think about it much. When she did think about it, she didn't hate her parents; she knew that they only did what they did because they believed it was right.

As she sat with her friends, she looked around her table and was thankful for the wonderful people who had accepted her here, without fear or judgment of her or her parents. Next to her was Lexi, a short African American girl with long brown hair whose brown eyes were always dancing like she had a secret. Across from Lexi was Cammie, a lanky girl, with dirty blond hair and blue eyes that always lit up when she smiled. Next to Cammie and across from Skylar was Katie, Skylar's best friend and room mate. Katie was the same height as Skylar, but where Skylar was tan and exotic looking, Katie was pale and slim. Next to Katie sat Rose, a small, quiet, mousy girl, who could kick your ass like nobody's business. And finally on Skylar's left was Heather, an Asian chic artist who preferred creation to fighting, but could still take you down with one hand. As she sat here with her friends, she was swept up in the nostalgia and couldn't help but think about what her parents would think if they were here. But she quickly put that thought out of her mind; she knew her parents would have been proud of her no matter what she did.

As usual, the hall was filled with chattering girls, excited over the new gossip. She tuned into the gossip going on around her as she tuned out her friends' argument over who was hotter, Brad Pitt or Kanye West. What she heard was shocking to her, and she hoped it was completely rumor, with no fact behind it. But as most rumors go, there was fact behind it as she soon found out when the headmistress stepped up to her podium for an announcement.

"As some of you may already know," she started with a reproving glance at those girls who were already talking about it, "We are hosting the Hawthorne School for boys. You all know that the Hawthorne School is the brother school to Hathaway, and that like us it trains spies to enter into the black ops of the CIA. And obviously, unlike us, it is a school for boys. For those of you who are thinking, where will they sleep, do not worry. We have arranged the dorms and found many available places to put people. There will be a reassignment of sleeping arrangements, so if you are in the Rosewood or Anawood dorms, please remain in the dining hall to hear your room assignments. Other than that, I hope all of you have a productive last day without guys, and remember that there will be NO inappropriate behavior while they are here."

Luckily for Skylar she was not in either of the dorm that the headmistress mentioned and was free to hurry off to her decoding class. Being Russian, and having been brought up in a Russian vigilante group, Skylar knew almost as much about decoding as the teacher who taught the class, but she still liked the class, but it always had so much potential. She thought maybe she liked it so much because it reminded her of herself. She was like a code, she didn't know who she was or what she wanted to be, but there was only one thing she could be, and she just had to figure out what exactly that was.

The rest of the day seemed to go by quickly, and before she knew it she was sitting in the library next to Katie, looking up information on the world's foremost spy, but since you have level ten clearance you don't need me to clarify who exactly that is.

"Sky, are you physically incapable of getting through one day of classes without having extra work assigned because of your smart mouth? I mean, seriously? Yesterday it was an essay on the secret alliance work of Bismarck," Katie rolled over on the couch where she was laying and reading a book to look at Skylar working on the computer next to her.

"I'm sorry, but sometimes the teachers just tick me off, and then I have to use my smart mouth. It's a reflex reaction. You try living with people who can kick your ass better than you and see what happens to you. My wit was the only way to stop the torture and now it's kind of uncontrollable." Her slight Russian accent came out when she talked because of her frustration with the assignment.

"It's hard to imagine someone being a better fighter than you are."

Katie returned to her book and Skylar finished up on her assignment just as Headmistress Pattinson entered the library. Seeing them clearing up she headed over.

"Good thing I've found you girls, where are your other friends? No matter, I will have to find them later, right now I need your help. The Hawthorne boys are coming earlier than I expected and I need your help getting things ready for them."

"Sure, anything you need. When are they coming?"

"Actually, they're coming now, as in an hour from now. I need you girls to help the others who have to move get there things moved, and I need someone to make sure the girls know they're here. Other than that, I need two girls to welcome them when they arrive, and show them around."

"Of course, Headmistress Pattinson, we'd be happy to help you. We'll take care of everything."

As soon as the headmistress was out of earshot, Skylar pulled out her cell phone to text Heather and the other girls. The school had special blocks up, to prevent students from being able to use their cell phones, this was in order to help them with their training, but Skylar and Katie had found a way to get around that, and had programmed the rest of their friends' phones to do the same.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Within minutes Skylar and Katie had rounded up all four of their other friends, and they were gathering in their favorite hiding place, a secret room behind one of the fireplaces in the library. When Skylar had first arrived at Hathaway Academy, she was still reeling from the takedown she had been a key element in, and needed some time to herself. Late at night when she couldn't sleep, she often found herself wondering through the hallways, pulling levers and feeling walls, looking for anything and everything that the school had to hide. By her second year there, she was the top of her class, and knew the school like the back of her hand.

"Okay, girls look," Sky started off once the last of her friends had gotten settled, "the headmistress needs our help, Lexi and Cammie, can you go to the reassigned dorms to make sure all of the girls there are moving their butts? Heather and Rose, I need you to go tell Tiffany Sprit and Whitney Barnt that the boys are here."

"Why Tiffany Sprit and Whitney Barnt?" Heather wanted to know.

"Because they're the biggest gossips of the entire school, and if they know then within ten minutes the entire school will know all about how the boys did something incredible that they really didn't. You catch my drift? And Katie and I will go welcome the boys to our wonderful school, and lead them on our world famous tour of Everything-You-Never-Wanted-To-Know-About-Hathaway-Academy. Got it? Let's go." With excited chatter, the six girls all went their separate ways to complete their missions.

Within five minutes Katie and Skylar were waiting by the front doors to welcome their semester guests. It was hard not to be nervous, what with the excitedly terrified cries from the dorms upstairs, and the rushing staff members flying around. Every few minutes Katie would check her watch and her reflection in the mirror hung in the foyer. She was still wearing her uniform, but she had let her hair down, and washed the dirt off her face, and even added a little make-up. Skylar hadn't put much effort into her appearance; she washed her face, and put on lip gloss at Katie's insistence, but other than that she looked exactly as if she were just going to class, not about to meet the people who would change her life as she knew it forever.

Thought nervous herself, Skylar couldn't help but wonder about what it would be like to have boys at her school. She had more experience with boys than many of the girls at her school, having had interaction with them when she was younger. But she didn't really count that, seeing as she was a different person now. Now she was older, and wiser, and had seen more of her world, the world of espionage. She wondered if maybe it were possible that one of the boys would be better than her. Much as she loved her school and the people in it, she knew that she was better than them, and sparring with them never provided her much of a challenge. She hoped there would be someone here, who would be on the same level as her, someone who would be a challenge to beat.

Finally, after what seemed like hours (but was really only a couple of minutes), the double doors behind which Katie and Skylar were waiting opened, and a couple dozen boys filed through them, headed by a stout little man who looked to be in his late forties or early fifties. Holding up the rear was a very good-looking man in his twenties, with brown hair and hazel eyes. In between these two men, the Hawthorne boys stood gazing at around at the hall. When the first boy laid eyes on the two girls, he immediately turned and informed the boy next to him. Within three minutes the entire hall of boys had turned to look at Katie and Skylar, some with anticipatory looks on their faces, and some with judging/hungry looks on their faces. Skylar turned to Katie and together they began the tour.

Thirty minutes later, Skylar had received the go ahead signal from Headmistress Pattinson, and they ended the tour in the Grand Hall.

"So this is where we eat, obviously, and normally we conduct meals in a foreign language…" Skylar tuned Katie out as she wrapped up her speech and surveyed the room full of boys. One boy in particular caught her eye. He was studying her, but trying to look casual about it; he leaned against the head of one table, slightly turned away from her, and when she caught him, he turned his head, as if observing the room, but she saw him look back at her out of the corner of her eye when she turned away. Headmistress Pattinson caught up to the tour as Katie finished speaking, and she and one of the other teachers lead the boys away to their rooms to get settled.

"OMG! Did you see that guy looking at you? He was so cute!" Katie gushed when she and Sky had returned to their room.

They had a double room, but it was so big that it could be a triple. The two beds were pushed up against the two adjoining walls across from the door, the heads almost touching where the walls met. Katie's wall was plastered with bright colors, and rock-and-roll posters. Her side of the room was cluttered and unorganized. Skylar's wall was a basic lavender color, with pictures of her friends and family everywhere. Her side was organized and structured. The two walls contrasted, but at the same time they fit together. The third wall was dedicated to hanging out, with a stereo, two bookshelves—one with CDs and one with books—and a couple of beanbags, and two dressers. The fourth and final wall of the room was where the door, and the steps leading down to the door were, but also where they studied, with a desk and two laptops, and a shelf with textbooks.

Katie flopped into one of the beanbags, and Skylar sat at the desk and turned on her computer. "Which one, they were all looking at us, and they were all kind of cute."

"Not the ones looking at _us_! There was one boy and he only had eyes for you, and he definitely had to be the cutest one of all of them. You had to see him, he was leaning against the head table, and trying to look casual, but he was totally checking you out! I can't believe you didn't see him." Katie picked up one of her magazines and started flipping through it.

"No I missed him sorry," Skylar in truth knew exactly which boy Katie was talking about, but she knew that evasive maneuvers were the smartest move when Katie got on about boys.

"Well I'll point him out at dinner, though I can't believe you didn't notice him. He was kind of tall, but on the short-ish side, but totally beefed out. He wasn't like one of those big beefy guys that scare little girls, but kind of rugged—like Leo di Caprio in the early years. He had the long hair that totally looks good on guys—not the long hair that belongs on a girl, or the short hair that they think looks cool spiked up. It wasn't shaggy or anything, but hung in his eyes kind of mysterious like. And his eyes! They were green—not like hazel or brownish green, but pure green. No one has green eyes anymore, they're always contaminated with brown or gold or something, but this guys eyes were pure and perfectly green! I can't believe you didn't notice him, he was the first guy I noticed."

"Well point him out to me later," Skylar was distracted by the thousand word paper that she had to write for tomorrow in Culture and Assimilation class.

Later that day, Skylar walked to the Grand Hall surrounded by her friends. When they arrived at the Grand Hall, the boys were already there, and the girls were already drooling over them. They made their way through the crowd to the food bar. Skylar, being a vegetarian, made her way to the salad bar. After two years of mostly salads, she had perfected the strategy behind edible art. She was the first person back to her table, while everyone else fixed their own tacos, and she wasn't the only one at her table.

When she sat down, so did about five boys from Hawthorne. And they didn't want to talk about normal dinner conversation. They wanted to talk about Russia, and Skylar didn't.

"Are you still Russian?" One freshman asked.

"Um, yeah, I'll always be Russian at heart," Skylar didn't really know what to say.

"Then why are you still here, and not in jail?"

"Because I'm a good spy…"Skylar was completely confused.

"But you're Russian!"

"Yeah, what are you getting at?"

"You being Russian!"

"I think he wants to know if you're a Russian terrorist, not just if you're Russian." Skylar was saved from having to respond to the freshman's last remark by a voice behind her. When she turned around she was surprised to find the guy who was checking her out during his tour. "Guys, scram, and let the girl eat her salad in peace."

When everyone had cleared out, Skylar was left alone with Mr. Casual-Looker, and her friends had suddenly found an interest in something at the taco bar.

"So…what's happening?"

"You mean out of the ordinary, something like my formerly all girls school being overrun with boys, and all of a sudden being the center of attention again, like I was when I transferred here three years ago? Yeah, not so much."

"So I guess asking if you've ever met anybody interesting wouldn't be such a good idea?"

"Only if by interesting you mean someone who wasn't trying to 'casually' check me out while I gave him a tour of my school." With that Skylar excused herself and left the room, leaving Mr. Casual-Looker, and her salad, and her friends, and returning to her room.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Skylar didn't really know where she was going when she left the dining hall. She thought she was going to her room, but when she was out of earshot of the dining hall she found that she really wasn't headed in the direction of her room. She found herself drawn to one of her personal favorite secret passages. As she stood outside the entranceway, she couldn't bring herself to pull the lever that doubled as the secret sword that the founder of the school used to kill one of the German spies in World War Two.

It wasn't that she didn't like Mr. Casual-Looker, but when the freshmen started asking her questions about her being 'Russian' she got irritated, as often happens when that particular subject comes up in conversation. She'd never really gotten the chance to say good-bye to her parents, and she'd never had anyone to talk to about it. Sure, she was forced to go to a psychiatrist when it happened, and the headmistress, all her teachers, and all her friends were willing to listen if she needed to talk about it, but she never really wanted to talk. But just then in the Grand Hall, with this kid that she had never met before, she had the sudden urge to just blurt everything out, and that scared her.

Skylar was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost didn't hear the footsteps coming down the hall toward her. She looked up just in time to see the guy from the Grand Hall turn the corner and start in her direction. She was surprised, but not disappointed, that he would follow her after the way she treated him, when all he really did was help her out.

"Hey, are you okay?" The look on his face told her he didn't really care about her physical well-being.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I just—I don't know."

"Oh, well…look back there when those guys were talking, they were really just talking, they didn't mean what they said, especially Jonas."

"Jonas?"

"The kid who asked you about being Russian."

"The freshman?"

"Actually he's a senior, but don't worry, a lot of people think he's a freshman. Those guys, they're really pretty safe…well as safe as safe as one can be having been trained to be spies all their lives, but still."

"Look, thanks for the pep talk, but I wasn't running away from them."

"Then what were you running away from? Because no normal person spends so much time making such a lovely piece of edible art and then walks away from it for no reason. But maybe you're not a normal person."

"Maybe I just lost my appetite."

"But I don't think so. After just a typical day of classes even I am ravenous, you can't tell me that after that, finding out your school was going to be host to a whole different gender, and then having to stall that gender for an hour and a half while your school got ready for them you're willing to just walk away from your dinner? I don't think so, but if that's the story you're sticking to then go ahead." With that he turned to walk away, but Skylar wasn't ready to end the conversation.

"What's your name anyway. I mean here you are analyzing my every move and you don't even know _my_ name."

"Oh I know your name alright, I pretty much know everything about you. I'm a spy, remember? My name is Trent. I'm a junior, just like you."

"Okay, Trent if you seem to know me so well, then tell me what I'm doing here."

"Well…I don't know all that—But I do know that you're sixteen, you've been here for three years, and without any tutoring or help of any kind you managed to become the top of your class." When Skylar turned away from him, he hastened to keep step with her, and continued speaking. "You were raised in a Russian vigilante group, and when you were thirteen the CIA found you and used you to bring down the group, and killed your parents in the process. After that, the CIA put you with a psychiatrist to talk about it, but you didn't do much more than sulk, and then Hathaway Academy basically adopted you."

By this time Skylar and Trent had reached the door to Skylar's room, and Skylar finally turned to look Trent full in the face, for the first time that night. "Okay, can you tell me something that's not found in a textbook? Because while, yeah, the fact that you know all that about me is somewhat flattering, anybody here could tell me that." She closed her eyes and turned away. "If you know so much about me, then tell me what color my eyes are."

"I, uh…I don't know."

Skylar stuck her key into the doorknob, and said to the door, "My eyes are brown, but I wear colored contacts, so they pretty much look like magenta-y. I ran away from you back in the Grand Hall, because I didn't want to think about my old life, and my family. I don't think I could handle the gossip that would go around if I were to break down crying. Look, I appreciate you walking me to my room, and talking to me, and I promise that if I want to talk about this, I will, but right now I really just want to be alone." When she'd finished talking, Skylar turned the key in the knob and went in, closing the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The next morning, Skylar woke with renewed energy. For the first time in the two years since she'd been at the school she was ready on time, and actually early to breakfast, arriving before her friends. She set up her tray with toast and a bowl of cereal, and made her way over to their normal table. When she was a few yards away, she realized that her table was not in fact empty, as she had thought, but there were boys sitting in the same place where she and her friends had sat just the night before. They were not the same boys as then, but she decided not to take a chance and sat at the other end of the table, far away from the center of the clump of students.

She watched her friends enter the Grand Hall, groggy, and sleep-ridden, and start for the breakfast line. She waited while they went through the line, and then headed for their normal table. Like her, they were yards away from the table when they saw the boys at it, and like her they remembered what happened the night before and looked around for Skylar. When they spotted her, they made their way over, and, without words, they sat around her, providing a sort of barrier between her and the eyes that were watching her every move, and ate their breakfast.

After breakfast, the headmistress made her usual morning announcements, and todays were just as surprising as yesterdays were.

"Ladies—and gentleman—I understand that yesterday you all may, or may not, have been surprised by the announcement that I made, but I am sorry to tell you that the surprises are not through yet. I am also sorry to tell those of you who spent a lot of time getting ready this morning, because you are not ready. Today, for those of you in grades ten or eleven, you will have your first mission as a joint unit. If you are in grades ten or eleven, please follow Mr. Ratti to the sublevel, and he will brief you on today's mission. If you are not in these grades, please go to class as if it were a usual day."

Skylar, Katie, Lexi and Heather followed the rest of the tenth and eleventh graders to the sublevel while Cammie and Rose, being seniors and too old, went to their classes. In the Simulation room, used to simulate missions, attacks, or fights, Mr. Ratti began the brief.

"Today's mission might sound simple to some of you older students, but it is important to remember the simple things because all failed missions can be traced to a simple mistake. Today, each of the girls while be paired with a guy, and your mission is to obtain the information about a certain town dance. I'm talking the when, where, who and why. After obtaining the information, the next goal is to get the information to the rest of your classmates. Use anything and everything you know—drop passes, secret messages, anything—to spread the message. The only restriction…you will not have comms units. The only thing you will have to help you is your partner. Remember, in the real world, your partner is your lifeline, keep them involved. Now, you can't wander around the town wearing a school uniform, you are trying to keep a low profile, so right now go back to your rooms and get dressed."

Excitedly, the two grades swarmed back to their dorms to get dressed. All throughout the girls' dormitories were shouts and lively chatter about the latest fashions and show styles. Katie and Skylar had a dorm room in one of the towers of the school, so when they closed their door to change, they had basically sound-proofed the room to all the yelling. Skylar and Katie spent about twenty minutes trading clothes until they found just the right outfits to look good in, but not stand out. Skylar wore an uneven minidress with a large butterfly on her right hip, and Capri jeans underneath. She knew the pale pink dress looked good in her hair, and accentuated her dark eyes. Katie chose to where a simple white tank-top with a pale pink button down shirt that was left unbuttoned and tied at her stomach and skinny jeans. She borrowed a pair of black converses from Skylar, and Skylar borrowed a pair of pink butterfly flip-flops.

In about an hour, every girl had plucked, pulled, curled and fluffed and was now ready to begin the day as a normal girl. Everybody was excited and anxious to face the mission, but Skylar was worried. She'd trained in every type of combat, had learned how to memorize the silliest pieces of information, cracked every code she'd ever faced, had learned how to become somebody else, but had never had to be a normal girl. She wasn't even sure if she knew how to be a normal person.

She piled into the van behind Heather and Lexi, and sat on one of the benches lining the sides of the vans. They were set up so that everyone seated inside of the van could face each other without having to turn around. Skylar found herself seated across from Trent, and quickly averted her gaze when he met her eyes. In the middle of the van, laying on the floor, was a map of the town. On the short ten minute drive into town, Mr. Ratti pointed out the important places they needed to remember, the drop-off point, the way to the middle of the town, the rendezvous point, and other necessities. When they arrived in the town, Mr. Ratti assigned partners.

"Alexis Palmer, Joseph Patternoster." And he went through the entire list of students. Finally he got to Skylar, the last name on his list. "Skylar Golovin, Trent Bradin."

Startled, Skylar looked up to meet Trent's gaze, he was also startled, but he seemed surprised in a good way, judging from the smirk on his face. She had known she would get paired with one of the guys, but she had never considered the possibility of getting paired with Trent.

By the time she had gotten over the shock, everyone was already out of the van and milling through the town. She was the last person out of the van, and was surprised to find that Trent was not there. She caught up to him, a couple of streets away, standing by the town gazebo, and pacing near the stairs.

When he saw her, he stopped pacing, and started towards her; the smirk omnipresent on his face. She never noticed before how good-looking he really was. She remembered Katie's analysis of him, after their tour, the first time they saw him. His hair was dark brown with highlights that came out in the sunlight, and it hung in his eyes, like Katie had said, and did make him seem mysterious. His eyes were perfectly green, and deep, they could tell a thousand stories without even saying one word. He was the perfect height for Skylar; when they stood face to face, her eyes were at the level of his nose.

_Wait, what am I thinking?_ She shook her head, trying to clear the thought. She couldn't be thinking about Trent that way. At least not in the middle of a mission.

Together they turned to the center of the town and began to hatch a plan of action. After about two hours of futile wandering through the town and talking to anybody and everybody they found, trying to find information about the dance, they found themselves in a booth at a small restaurant near the gazebo where they started.

"Maybe we should just straight out ask someone." Skylar didn't know what to do anymore.

"And tell them what? Oh we're just visiting in this town, and we're on a mission to crash the town dance so can you give us the information about it? Don't think that's going to work." Trent was more than a little bit frustrated as well.

The waitress addressed them then, interrupting their conversation. "What can I get y'all today?"

"Um, I'll just have a diet coke and a Caesar salad, thanks." Skylar closed her menu and handed it to the waitress, whose nametag said Sharell.

"I'll have the same." Trent's eyes never left Sky's when he ordered.

"Wait," Sky suddenly had a great idea. She reached across the table where Trent's hands laid on the table and grabbed them. "My boyfriend and I are visiting my cousin, and I want to do something special with him. She told me about this town dance, but I don't remember what she said, and I'm trying to figure out if we're going to be here long enough. Do you happen to know anything about it?"

"Aw, don't you two make such a cute couple. The town dance, huh? Well it's this Saturday night at seven o'clock in the center of the town. They'll do food-type stuff in the gazebo, and dancing in the yard around it. Normally it goes on to about one or two in the morning, and they always have a local band play. It's a semi-formal thing, just a simple dress, not that anybody's gonna tell y'all to leave if you're not dressed nice, but you'll just feel out of place."

"Thanks for that," Trent took over now, picking up on Sky's strategy, "Her aunt, God love her, just doesn't have the greatest memory."

"I thought you said you were staying with a cousin, li'l lady." Sharell looked confused.

"Oh, uh, I am," Sky kicked Trent under the table for his mistake. Like a good spy he covered up his pain with a smirk. "She's still in high school, and still lives with her mom, my aunt."

"Oh, well, I'll be back with your food soon." Sharell walked away seeming satisfied that she'd helped them. Sky grabbed a napkin and looked around for a pen.

"What are you doing?"

"I need a pen to write down the information."

"Don't you have a photographic memory?"

"Yeah, but I'm not supposed to know any of my classmates, and it would look kind of weird to be talking to someone I don't know, right? So I need to tell them in some other way. Hence, I need a pen."

"Got it," Trent searched his pockets for a moment, and coming up empty, placed his hands on the table again. "So, come here often?"

"Oh, yeah, me and my friends love to sneak out of a spy school to come here and catch a movie before sneaking back into said highly secured school for another day of classes. Life just wouldn't be the same without it."

"Stupid question. Sorry."

"Sorry, I'm just tired I guess, I'm not normally this snappy. I'll be happy once I've gotten this passed on, and it's out of my hands."

Sharell arrived with their food just then, and had a pen for them to use.

"This is nice. Just us, sitting here in the middle of a small town, eating lunch. Together. Alone. Almost as if it were a date." Trent was talking to Sky, but she wasn't really paying much attention.

"Hmm."

"Yeah. It might actually be nice to attend the dance, that we now know so much about. Almost like a second date," then, upon noticing that Skylar wasn't actually listening. "Yeah, it'll be nice, until the aliens attack, and you'll get scared. And me, being the only able-bodied male left standing…"

"'Cause the aliens wiped out the rest of the male population," Skylar interjected, now fully hearing and comprehending what he was saying."

"Exactly," Trent continued without seeming to register that she was paying attention, now on a roll. "I'll have to save you from sure death, and once I've gotten you safely away from the aliens…"

"In an underground tunnel where they can't find us."

"Right, well you'll just be so thankful that I've saved you…"

"And all the rest of the townspeople. Because, being the good guy, you won't allow yourself to leave all the people of a town to the hungry hands of invading aliens."

"Yes, and being so thankful, you'll be overcome by the sudden urge to kiss me. In thanks of course, but that will open the gateway to your inner longing to be with me, and…"

"And then I'll come to my senses and realize that it's not you I'm longing for but James McAvoy."

"Yes, unfortunately, but it'll be fun while it lasts."

Skylar just smiled at him. She finished her salad, and pushed the plate towards the end of the table. Trent finished, too, and did the same. When Sharell came with the check, Trent paid and they left to look for some of their roommates.

"So, Skylar, are you, like, a vegetarian or something? I've only ever seen you eat salad."

"Call me Sky, first. Second, yes. I've been a vegetarian since I did an undercover operation on a farm once, and saw how exactly they made the ribs I had for dinner that night." With food in her stomach, and the requested information in her hand, Sky was feeling lighthearted and carefree.

When she passed Katie, she 'accidentally' bumped into her, and dropped the note into her pocket. Now the rest of the mission was out of her hand. Down the road Katie discreetly pulled the note out, read it, and passed it on. The rest of the day would be a breeze.

Trent and Sky made their way, slowly, to the rendezvous point on the edge of town, and prepared themselves for a long wait. Sky laid down in the grass with her face turned towards the sun. After a short hesitation, Trent laid down next to her. They stayed like that until the rest of their class came, and they boarded the van for school.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

That night as Skylar lay in her bed, she was too keyed up to sleep, and found herself at midnight outside the walls of her school. It was not forbidden for students to leave the school, as it was forbidden for them to leave school grounds. She let her feet take her to her favorite tree, a weeping willow, in full bloom, in the corner of the school grounds. When she sat on the bench under the tree, she was almost completely hidden from the rest of the world and it was easy to pretend that she was the only one for miles around. But she wasn't here to ponder the world's population, she was here to ponder other things—things of the heart.

_I can't think about Trent like that. Not now—not ever._

While Skylar was busy not thinking about Trent, Trent was having trouble not thinking about her. He lay awhile in bed, thinking about her brown eyes, and her dark hair, so dark it looked purple sometimes, and her lips, so soft and full. He finally gave up on sleep, and walked out of his room, and out of his wing. He was ready to wander the halls when he heard soft footsteps heading towards the main hall, and the door. Spy senses awakened, he followed them out the door, and through the school grounds to the edge. He was beginning to wonder where they were going; if they were sneaking off school grounds would he follow? It was dark outside, being the middle of the night, the only light coming from the moon, and Trent couldn't really see who he was following, but he knew it was a girl.

The girl walked to a weeping willow tree in the corner of school grounds, and sat on the bench underneath, surrounded by willow branches. Trent stopped a few feet away, amazed that this Spy Academy student hadn't recognized his presence, and then he saw why. She was completely absorbed in her own thoughts, and as it was the middle of the night, there weren't going to be many people following her. He stepped lightly under the tree branches, being careful not to make a sound, and watched the girl. She had dark purple hair, and long legs. It was then that he realized who he was watching. Skylar.

_Think of the devil, and the devil shall appear. Jeez, she's hot! _ She seemed to be deep in thought, and he was prepared to wait for her to leave when she spoke.

"I know you're there, Trent, don't try to hide." Skylar didn't even turn around, she simply tucked her legs under her body, and pulled her jacket tighter around her.

"How did you know I was here? You walked all the way here with me following and didn't even notice." He silently sat on the bench next to Skylar, a little bit closer to him than he would've with any other girl.

"Spy, remember? Besides, it's hard not to notice the presence of the person you can't stop thinking about."

"Aw, you couldn't stop thinking about me? That's flattering." His voice was sarcastic, but inside he was ecstatic that she was even thinking about him.

"Shut-up," She shoved him, and he fell off the bench. "I was only thinking about today, and you saving me the other day at dinner."

"Right," He readjusted himself on the bench next to Skylar. Next to him, Skylar shivered in the breeze, he longed to put his arms around her, and pull her close to her chest. But instead he pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her. "So…"

"So…what brings you to this neck of the woods?" Skylar shivered again, and wrapped Trent's jacket tighter around her, unconsciously leaned closer to his warmth. Trent's whole body tingled where she was leaning against him.

"Well, I couldn't sleep either, and figured, old mansions like this always have secret passageways, and me, being a good spy and all, I figured it best to find a few of them. You know in case of emergency, but then I heard your footsteps and decided to follow you." Skylar's hands were laying in her lap, and Trent's fingers itched to hold them.

"Well…"

"Well…"

They sat together in silence like that for awhile before Trent spoke up again. "So…I would ask how you like being a spy, but I'm afraid of your answer."

"Being a spy's fine, I wouldn't really know how to be a normal girl."

"Yeah, you wouldn't know that by the way you handled yourself today in the town. Especially when you played us off as boyfriend and girlfriend." He thought about how she nonchalantly held his hands over the table, and told Sharell, the waitress, that they were going out. His hands tingled with electricity when he remembered where she held them. He couldn't believe he had only just met Skylar two days ago, it seemed like longer, and he was already falling head over heels for her.

"I was just playing the role that was assigned to me. I wonder if we're really going to get to go to that dance. It might be fun."

"Yeah, and you'll really be able to perfect that 'normal girl' role."

"Shut-up," Once again, Skylar shoved Trent off the bench, but this time Trent grabbed her hand and pulled her off too.

Skylar wasn't prepared for Trent to pull her off the bench when she pushed him. She also wasn't prepared to fall on top of him, either. The minute she landed, full force, on Trent, it was like a shock of electricity through her entire body, she noticed things about him that she hadn't before. Like how rock hard his abs were (she'd have fun with him in P&E class), and how strong his hands felt when they caught her, how soft his lips looked…

Suddenly, her mind wasn't on Trent as a partner, but on how it would feel to kiss him. For once, the little voice in her mind didn't chastise her for thinking of him in a way other than as a partner. She longed for his strong hands to hold her close to him, and to…

Trent could feel Skylar's hard body in every line of his; he wondered what it would be like to kiss her, to pull her close to him, and hold her… It was as if a shock of electricity had been shot through him, pulling him to her like a magnet.

He rolled her over, so he was on top of her, holding his weight off of her by his hands and arms. She looked up at him, her eyes shaded, her face aglow, her breath shallow. His breath wasn't coming so easy either. He wanted to kiss her, but decided to take things slowly. Cautiously he lowered his face until his mouth was mere centimeters from hers, his eyes on hers at all times. He hesitated, allowing her to back away anytime, but instead of backing away, she leaned up so her lips met his. She didn't do anything more than touch his, he was the one who moved his lips, deepening the kiss.

He slid his hands around her (she was so tiny that his arms overlapped), and pulled her tight to him. He felt her arms begin to snake around his neck before she yanked away. She looked up at him in surprise, as if unaware what she had been doing or why, and rolled him off of her. She jumped up and with one last look at him laying on the ground ran off into the darkness.

Skylar didn't know why she stopped the kiss so forcefully. She wanted it, she wanted to feel his arms around her, to be close to him. But when he pulled her tight to him, and she began to wrap her arms around him, she felt…

Scared. For the first time in her life she was scared. She'd never been scared. Not when she had to help the CIA, or when she fell off the slide back home, not even when she found out the dorm she was living in had a bomb in it, and it was up to her to defuse it, or kill everybody inside it. And she was only five.

But one kiss from this boy she'd never met and she was scared.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

For the next week Skylar avoided Trent like he had the Black Plague, and she was afraid to catch it. She went to class, went to meals, did all the assignments in the library, but other than that, she hid in her room. When she did have class with Trent, she sat as far away from him, and didn't talk to him at all.

She was becoming a pro at avoiding him, until he walked in on her in the P&E room. She had grown so confident in avoiding him, that she finally ventured outside her room to work out. In the week since the kiss, she'd hidden so much, that she hadn't gotten a real work-out in, so she decided to risk one. And just a testament to her luck; he found her, unsuspecting on both sides.

Trent walked in to the P&E classroom to work all his frustrations out on the punching bags, not expecting the object of his frustrations to be right there in front of him. He contemplated leaving her alone, but then decided it was a great time to confront her and try to figure out what her problem was. Silently he went to the changing rooms, to get out of his uniform and into work-out clothes. His work-out attire consisted of sweat pants, and no shirt. Her's was a white tank-top and drawstring pants.

Without announcing his presence he jumped into her fight with the punching bag, blocking the hits as she threw them.

"What do you want? Go away I'm working." She stopped fighting him, and bent over to touch her toes, panting.

"Yeah, I can see that you're working hard, but I figured that this was the only way to get your attention. You've been avoiding me all week and I want to know why. Was it because I kissed you? Because you wanted it…" He trailed off when he saw her face. Suddenly she was no longer out of breath, and she was ready for another fight, just not with the punching bag.

"I haven't been avoiding you," she panted, faking him out with a low kick and throwing a punch to his groin. Like a good spy, he didn't fall for the kick, and parried the punch with a backhand of his own.

"Oh, so the fact that you haven't looked at me or talked to me since that night a week ago is just a by-product of your busy work schedule. Hard to believe that we have the same schedule then, because I haven't been that busy."

"Okay, so maybe I have been avoiding you. But I don't see why you care, and it's not like you've been breaking down my door trying to talk to me."

"I figured you'd talk to me when you were ready. I didn't count on you not wanting to even look at me." He sighed, letting his guard down enough for her to get a punch in on his chest.

It was as if touching him made her realize what was going on. She suddenly dropped her hands, and all the fight left her eyes. She turned away and walked to the other end of the gym area, bent over, touched her toes, and then came back.

"Look, I'm not avoiding you because of you." She said it, but realized how convoluted it sounded and tried to rephrase. "I'm avoiding you because I need to think."

"Think about what? I thought you wanted me to kiss you, and you kissed me back," he was confused, to say the least.

"I did want you to kiss me. That's what I needed to think about."

"I'm…confused." He struggled to find the right word, and then settled for first word that even began to sum up what he was feeling.

"I…have feelings for you that I've never had for anyone else. These feelings would lead to us getting close, closer than I am with anyone. A lot closer than I am with even my closest friends. You would know things about me that scare even me. I needed to think if I was ready for that, if you could be ready for that." While she was talking, Skylar was unconsciously inching closer to Trent until she was almost touching him.

He grabbed her hand with his left one, and touched her face with his right one. His touch made her look him in the eyes. _I never noticed how pretty her eyes are. I mean, I know they're brown, but they're not just brown, like most brown eyes. Most brown eyes look like mud, but hers look like puppy dog eyes._ This time when he kissed her, he didn't give her a chance to stop him, he just touched his lips to hers, softly.

She didn't move away when he kissed her. She didn't know what to do, what to think. She was afraid to think the wrong thing, and have him not be able to handle what she threw to him.

The kiss was soft and sweet, and unlike the last kiss, he didn't move, or touch her anywhere but his lips, but she could still feel him through every line of her body. He was the one to break away, but only to kiss her forehead, and hug her tight. He was just the right height for her head to rest square on his shoulder, and him to tuck her head under his chin. They stood like that for God-knows-how-long before she finally stepped back and asked the question that had been bugging her for a while.

"But, can you…?" She didn't know how to finish the question so he would understand what she meant, but he understood her without her even finishing her question.

"Skylar, I have only known you for a couple of weeks, but I can handle everything you throw at me. You can trust me; I'm not just going to leave you out in the rain."

"I know, it's just…" She couldn't get a sentence out standing this close to Trent and talking about what they were talking about, but he still understood what she wanted.

"Skylar, you're not the only one who needs help. I may act all macho and tough," she chuckled at his joke, "but I still have issues, that, may not add up to being a Russian terrorist," he ducked her punch, "but are still issues that even I need help with."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Believe it or not, the world doesn't revolve around you." He put his arm lightly around her shoulders, and led her away to the changing rooms.

"Since when? MY world always revolves around me."

She let him lead her to the door of the changing rooms, and hug her once more before she finally went to shower and change for dinner.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Dinner that night went as usual. Trent smiled and waved a flirty wave at Skylar, but sat with his friends, and Sky sat with hers. Sky was wary of the talk that should follow a 'hook-up' between two students; but then she realized that no one knew about it, and was relieved. She wasn't ashamed of liking Trent, in fact many of the girls made their opinions of him quite clear—that if Sky didn't hurry up and take him, they would—she just didn't want to deal with the random questions of people who she didn't really know. Apparently it didn't matter quite yet if they had hooked-up; there was other better news to hear.

"Attention, ladies and gentleman, attention! I have an important announcement to make," Headmistress Pattinson said from the podium. "You all remember the field trip into town that our upper classes took a week ago. Well, that trip was not entirely pointless; they found the information about a town dance this weekend—actually tonight—as if they were going to attend. Well, they're not going to attend." She paused for the groans before continuing. "You all are." It took a moment for it to sink in before the excited chatter began. "So, since there will be food there, I'd suggest you all go and get ready for the dance. When you are through, return to the Grand Hall to get your assignments." In a clatter of squealing girls and noisy chairs everyone exited the hall and hurried to their respective rooms.

"Hey, Sky, think you and Trent will go together?" It was Tiffany, in for her daily gossip, and Sky wasn't in the mood. She was still a little giddy from her talk with Trent, and wasn't entirely sure where Tiffany was going with her question.

"Um, maybe. I don't know," Sky stuttered as she headed up the stairs to her room.

"So, would you mind if I asked him?"

"Um." Did she? Technically they weren't really going out, they hadn't been on a date, but he did tell her he liked her. She was saved from answering by Cammie.

"Hey, Sky, would you mind if I borrowed that cute top you wore a couple of weekends ago? You know, the one with the sequined neckline, and cuts kinda low. The bluish-greenish one."

"Oh, yeah. I remember, yeah sure, you can borrow it. Come on up and I'll give it to you." The entire time they had been talking Cammie had been subtly edging Tiffany away until she was no longer a part of their group, and was left behind.

Trent was excited to hear about the trip; it would be the perfect time to be with Sky without out all the expectations of a first date. If they were on a mission, it wouldn't be awkward for him to stick with her, and get to know her, without the weirdness.

They were going to the town dance. She would be surrounded by people. Those who knew her and those who didn't. Even the people who knew her didn't know what she could do; the destruction she could cause. It wouldn't be hard to get her away from all off them; it was easy to get lost in crowds, and he knew here every move. He'd been watching her since she'd started at that stupid school, waiting, watching her grow and learn, waiting for the right time to take her. When she was well-trained, but still young enough to mold into what he needed her to be. It wouldn't be difficult to take her, she wouldn't be missed, she hadn't even confided entirely in her friends.

An hour later everyone was dressed up, and ready and waiting to go to the dance. Sky was sitting nervously with her friends; she didn't know how Tiffany took her shrug-off—as a yes or no. They had all dressed up; though Sky knew she looked the best. She had a pale blue tank-top with sequins across the bodice, that hugged her body in all the right places. She complimented that with a pale pink jacket, and a jean mini-skirt and black tights. Across the room she watched Trent find his folder, and noticed once again how good he looked. He wore a semi-tight shirt that accentuated his washboard abs, abs that she saw first in the work-out room, and a pair of checkered shorts held up at his waist by a belt. She was glad to see the belt, and not his boxers; she never understood why guys would wear a belt, but keep it around their butts, not their waists. And she promised her parents that she wouldn't ever date someone who insisted on showing his boxers everyday, so she was glad that she could like Trent without breaking her promise to her parents.

Her cover identity was a girl named Allie Shields, a Capricorn who attended Samhigh private school, where she was a junior, and an only child. Because it was supposed to be a relaxing outing, she didn't need to know Allie Shields' likes and dislikes, they would be her own. Tonight would be exciting; if she and Trent did end up getting together, she would get to be herself and get to know Trent, all while not really even being herself.

While she was busy memorizing her cover, and fidgeting with her jacket, Trent found her.

"Hello, my name is Cameron, what is yours?" Trent bowed, gallantly, and stuck his hand out for Sky to shake.

"Hello Cameron, it's nice to meet you. My name is Allie," Sky/Allie played along with Trent/Cameron's little act.

"Why, Allie, what a lovely name. Would you like to be my partner for the evening?" He took Sky/Allie's hand and kissed it lightly.

"And by evening partner, you mean…?" Her hand tingled where Trent/Cameron had kissed her.

"Well, date." Yes!

"I would love to be your date tonight."

"Trent! So glad I found you. Do you wanna be my date tonight, I never go to these things alone." Tiffany pushed her way through the crowd over to Sky/Allie and Trent/Cameron's little group of friends.

Trent/Cameron lifted his eyebrows at Sky/Allie, and then arranged his face into a confused expression. "Who's Trent? My name is Cameron, and I already have a date for tonight."

"Right, not Trent. I forgot. Well, Cameron, who exactly is your date for the evening?" Tiffany shot a mean glance at Sky before arranging her features into a pleasant expression.

"Allie here is. I've heard she's a great dancer."

"Okay, well, maybe Grant-I mean John-is free." Tiffany curtsied and made her Grand Sortie (exit in French).

Five minutes later they were in the vans on their way to the dance; and fifteen minutes after that they were at the dance, blending in and introducing themselves. Big gatherings were a spy's best friends because they allowed the spy to blend in, and provided an excuse why people didn't know them. For Sky and Trent it provided a friendly atmosphere for them to get to know each other and not be weird.

There they were, the two little lovebirds, flirting and dancing like they had no cares in the world. Actually, they didn't have a care, they didn't know what they were up against, and they didn't know what was happening—tonight, it was happening tonight. He had no other choice, he waited long enough, she was strong and well-trained, and Le Patron demanded that he get her now.

Trent took Sky's arm and led her onto the dance floor. The band was playing some hometown country song, with a catchy chorus, but Sky wasn't really paying attention to the music, she was more distracted by Trent. He had grabbed her hips, and was swaying them in time to the music while pulling her closer to him. She let her hips move and put her arms around Trent's neck while allowing the music to move her body in time with his. It would have been a sexual experience, dancing this close to Trent and feeling his hands on her lower back, had it not been for the many people surrounding them on the dance floor.

They were now in the middle of the dance floor, with the people around them pushing them closer to each other. It was such a good feeling, letting her energy free on the dance floor with Trent. It was similar to fighting her, the same energy needing to be released, but instead of fighting against Sky, he was working with her to make something more beautiful than fights.

They danced like that for a few songs before Sky needed a drink. Trent watched her go, loving the way her hips swayed to the music, even though she wasn't dancing, before Tiffany's head filled his view.

"Wanna dance?" Without waiting for his answer, she grabbed his hands and placed them on his hips. She began swaying her hips to a beat faster than the song, and pressing her hips to his groin. Trent saw Sky out of the corner of his eye, and she smiled at him over her cup. He returned his attention to the dance, and when the song was over excused himself for a drink. He looked around for Sky but couldn't find her. Shrugging he figured she was lost in the crowd or that one of his guy friends had cornered her much the same way that Tiffany had cornered him. Then movement in the darkness caught his attention; turning he caught what looked like Sky being dragged by a man twice her size, and she wasn't moving.

Skylar—or Allie as she pretended to be—made the dire mistake of separating herself from the crowd. She excused herself for a drink and didn't stay with the party; trying to clear her head, she walked a little away from everybody into the darkness. It was the only thing he needed to take her down. Now she was unconscious, and on her way to Le Patron.

_Blast it! The one time I let my guard down for one minute, and I get taken! LITERALLY!_ Groggily Sky opened her eyes to see that she was somewhere in a car. Her captor had pushed her down in the back seat, and tied her hands and feet. She was able to wiggle herself so she could see out the back window. She saw the dance, and all her friends, and the people she didn't know, dancing and having fun. She saw Trent at the edge of the dance, watching two people walk into the woods. She wanted to bang on the window, and scream and yell for help, but instead she grunted as the car hit a particularly large bump and she fell down again. Her captor pressed a cloth laced with some depressant, and she fell asleep once again.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Trent followed the couple into the woods, instinctively tuning all his senses into the area around him. His spy senses were telling him that something was wrong, aside from the obvious. He traced the couple further and deeper into the woods, following the tracks they made when he lost sight of them. He finally caught up to them in a clearing – or rather he caught up to the girl. Her captor was nowhere to be found. Trent automatically got a bad feeling deep in his gut. Impulsively, he dropped low to the ground, and looked around.

But he wasn't quick enough. As soon as he turned his head, the unfound captor attacked him from the back. He struggled, and attempted the flip he'd just learned in school, but his attacker had anticipated this, and covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief laced with a depressant. Immediately Trent went limp and sank to the ground unconscious.

Sky woke up again, this time she wasn't in the moving car. She was aware enough to know the she wasn't alone, and kept her body limp and her eyes closed. When she was sure she wasn't being watched, she opened her eyes slightly – enough to check out her surroundings, but not enough to arouse her captor to her awakened state – and looked around. She found herself in a completely white room, empty but for the limp body strapped to the table next to her. After reassuring herself that her captor was not present she opened her eyes fully and sat up. Only to find herself strapped to the table like her companion.

Looking over, she recognized the body on the table. Trent. Groggy, she tried to recall the moments before her capture.

She had separated herself from the boisterous party in an attempt to clear her head. After that everything went fuzzy, but she vaguely remembered seeing Trent wandering into the woods alone.

So how did he end up here?

And where exactly was here?

And why were they here?

As these questions swirled around her still bleary mind, Trent stirred. Being a spy as well, he kept his body limp as he surveyed his surroundings. Once he saw Sky, however, she became his top priority.

Trent woke up, foggy and tired, but alert, and focused. Letting his spy instincts take over he surveyed his surroundings without moving a muscle, but when he saw Skylar, also strapped to a table, he forgot all of that. For a few minutes they just sat staring at each other and listened for sounds of life outside their room. Once they had determined that they were alone, they started coming up with a plan.

"We need to get out of here," Trent said as he struggled with his constraints.

"No really," Sky wasn't trying to be rude, she was just frustrated with herself. "And what exactly do you suggest?"

"An escape plan. Do you have any idea who's holding us?"

"Umm…" Just then they heard footsteps, and someone entering their room.

"Of course she knows us. She's the reason we're here." Through the door came a tall Russian man, with a thick accent, and even thicker glasses. He was wearing a long white lab coat, like a mad scientist, and had a thin mustache on his upper lip. "You don't recognize us, do you? But you will soon." Then he said something in Russian that Trent didn't understand, but Sky seemed to comprehend completely.

"What is he talking about? Sky, did you understand that?" Trent, despite all his spy smarts, was entirely confused.

Sky ignored Trent's question—her attention was entirely focused on the man, who kept talking in Russian. Trent sputtered a few more syllables, but eventually gave up and just looked back and forth between the Russian man and Skylar.

Finally the mad scientist addressed the both of them again. "You may not understand why you are here, but soon you will. And you, boy, will be sad that you ever befriended Skylar Golovin." With these ominous last words, the mad scientist made his exit.

"Sky, what was that all about? What did he mean? What's going on?" Trent was starting to freak out. The difference between real life and school was that at school you always knew what you were working with and against. In the real world, you could never be sure.

"Trent, calm down. It doesn't help anything if you freak out. The first thing we need to do is get out of these restraints." Sky seemed so calm, especially after what happened, it was almost as if…

"Sky, are you okay? How can you not be freaking out? He knew you, and for some reason, he knew me. Why are you so calm about this?" Something in what he said snapped Sky out of her reverie.

"How am I not freaking out? Because, Trent, freaking out isn't going to get us anywhere! Of course he knew me, that's why he kidnapped me! But we're not going to get out of this alive if we take time to freak out!" She banged her head back against the table, and the sound shattered her. This time when she spoke her voice was barely a whisper. "Trent, he knew me because he was part of the group, 'Night of the Dead', that I helped the CIA break down. He worked with my parents, but he managed to get a small group out when the CIA came, and he's been rebuilding them since. He likes to be called the Mad Hatter, because his goal is to end time as we know it. I don't know why he brought me here, or you for that matter, but it has something to do with that."

Trent had never seen Sky so undone. She was always so calm and together. Whatever the 'Mad Hatter' had said to her in Russian, it had unwoven her firm hold on sanity. "Sky, what did he say to you in Russian?"

"Nothing." She was lying; he could tell by the way she looked away when she spoke. "It wasn't anything important."

"You're lying. Whatever he said, it really shook you, and it might help us get out of here."

The Mad Hatter really knew how to push Sky's buttons, and she didn't know why she let him get to her the way he did, but this time it was life-threatening.

"He told me I would be sorry for what I did to 'Night of the Dead'. He said that because I was the reason they were brought down, I would help them get rehabilitated, whether of my own free will or not. He also said that if I didn't cooperate, they would kill you."

"Sky." That's all he said – her name, but that one word held all the words Sky needed to hear.

"Trent, we need to get out. We need to get help. This isn't just about me, this involves everyone. They knew about the school, and they knew the schedule, they know how to get in and out undetected. And even if they don't know already, they'll find out and soon. We can't do this on our own." Sky was already formulating a plan of action, but it meant one of them would have to stay behind.

"What are you thinking?" And she shared her plan with Trent. "No! I won't leave you behind. You need to go and leave me behind. I can handle it."

"And I can't? Trent, I've lived with these people all my life, I can handle staying here. You need to go because they don't want you; you just got in the way. They want me, and if I leave, they'll definitely kill you, but I might live if you leave me here. We have to maximize our chances of both of us surviving." Sky emphasized the importance behind both of them surviving.

"There's gotta be a way for the both of us to get out," Trent said.

"There's not. Not if we want to survive."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Trent dropped out of a window into the dark night. It had been four hours since Sky had shared her plan, and fight though he did, she would not change her mind. And so here he was, stalking along in the dark, and leaving the one girl he might actually fall in love with behind. Shaking his head, Trent continued on his path, following the map Sky had laid out for him, listening for any noises that meant there were people close by.

Sky lay on her table, listening for footsteps, hoping Trent got away in time. She knew he would remember the way, he was able to keep maps in his head, but she didn't know the habits of these people. When she was with them, they tended to keep strict hours, when to eat, when to sleep, when to fight, and she knew that now was when they all went to sleep. Except for the guards, but Trent could handle them. What Sky was worried about was who would decide they couldn't sleep and wandered around. She had done that on many occasions, especially in the last few years, when she was secretly feeding the CIA information on their plans.

She knew these woods like the back of her hand; there was no way Trent would get lost. She just had to hang on till he got help.

_Crack._ Trent stopped dead in his tracks and ducked, listening for any sounds. Another crack and one side of a conversation; keeping close to the ground, he hid behind a tree, listening to the conversation. From the crackling of the radio, he figured that the man was alone. It would have been easy to take down this target, but the person on the other side of the radio would pose a problem. As Trent debated, the man walked right past the tree Trent was hiding behind, and kept walking; Trent counted to ten before he continued walking. If the map Sky had given him was right (and he had no doubt that it was) he could keep walking in this direction, he would see a path that led to a road in about two miles. Remembering Sky, and her situation, made him speed up to a jog; within fifteen minutes, Trent recognized the most obvious signs of a past and started on it. He followed Sky's map and went right at the fork; keeping with what she said, Trent found the road twenty minutes later. The road was deserted and dark, but a road meant civilization, and civilization meant people and a phone. Phones meant calling Sky's friends and getting help for Sky. It also meant taking down this terrorist group once and for all.

Once he reached the road, Trent was on his own; Sky didn't remember anything after the road, because she'd never been down it. Trent didn't need direction, going either way down the road would take him to someone and that was all he needed. Using his judgment, he took a left on the road, and started walking. He walked for the rest of the night, until he saw the first rays of day. Yawning, he pulled over into the woods, set-up a hidden shelter and lay down to take a nap.

Sky had fallen asleep, despite the nagging worry about Trent, and the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements; however it was a fitful sleep disturbed by bad dreams. She was awoken by the Mad Hatter moving around the room, touching things, and moving them, not doing anything productive, but wasting time until something happened.

"Ah, you're awake. Good," he said, when he saw that she was awake. "I hate to do this, but I need to take you down to meet with the Master, he wants to know about your friend."

Sky refrained from saying anything as the Mad Hatter freed her from her restraints, but tied her hands together in front of her, and led her out of the room. As he took her through the building to the Master's room, Sky took in her surroundings, memorizing every turn and hallway that she saw. By the time she got to the Master's room, she could have made her way to the door of the building with her eyes closed.

The Mad Hatter knocked on the door to the room, and waited until he heard the okay before he pushed her through it. The room on the other side of the door was dark, lit only by a single candle on the other side of the room. There was a big red canopy bed by the candle, and on the bed lay a man. The man was heavy-set, with a large beard hiding most of his face. The door closed behind her, and Sky was immersed in almost complete darkness. Then the man on the bed spoke, and his voice chilled Sky to the bone.

"Ah, I see we have our star spy back in our custody. What lovely news! However, whatever happened to the other spy we had?"

Sky stayed silent as the man heaved himself into a sitting position. He reached over to light another candle but couldn't reach the candles.

"Would you mind, lighting the candles for me?" Sky made no move to light the other candles, nor did she make any indication she had heard what he said. She remained unmoving, knowing the low lighting would hide her face from recognition, as much as it hid his. _Besides, it's not as if I don't already know who he is, _Sky thought, _he hasn't changed a bit since I left him._

"Oh, so that's how you're going to play it? Well, fine, I'll talk, you listen. You better hope that boy knows what he's doing, if he steps foot on this property again…well let's just say we employ a shoot first, ask questions later policy here." Sky could feel the man's eyes on her from beneath his bushy eyebrows, but she refused to move, or say anything. "Anyways, onto you. You have no idea how excited we are to have our top fighter with us again. You can help us train our fighters, we are willing to overlook your previous indiscretion, but you can be sure you will not be put in that position again. You will be watched every minute, and will always be accompanied by one or more of our guards. We cannot risk you leaving us again, you mean too much to this operation."

Silence.

"I will let you go eat; you need to keep your strength up in order to be of any worth to us. And do believe that if you fail us in any way, or if in any way your value to us decreases, we will not hesitate to terminate you. Understand? Now go." As soon as he spoke the door opened, and an arm pulled her out of the room. The arm did not belong to the Mad Hatter, but a big, strong looking guard. Another one accompanied him on the other side of Sky, and they led her to the Dining Hall.

Trent awoke the next evening, having slept fitfully despite his worries over Sky. He stretched and broke down his campsite before continuing on his trek down the street. There was no sign of life for miles along the road, and Trent's mind was kept awake by thoughts of Sky, and what was happening to her. But while Sky was eating well, despite her circumstances, Trent was starving. He hadn't seen a single animal or car on the road, and was beginning to wonder if maybe he should have gone the opposite direction.

Then he heard the rumbling sounds, of a car driving down the road from the direction he was walking in. He had a split second to debate whether or not to get the attention of the driver, or hide. He thought of Sky, and jumped into the road and started waving his arms. The driver pulled to a stop right in front of Trent, and for a split second Trent was afraid that the car was from the group that still had Sky, until he saw their teacher Mr. Ratti step out of the car. Trent was so happy to see him he almost fainted from relief.

Sky returned to her jail cell of a room, after sitting through dinner with the group. She hadn't eaten anything, and wasn't planning on it; she knew that the Master threatened to terminate her if her value for them dropped, but she knew he wouldn't. While she had lived with him during her parents' lives, he had tried to be more of a father than her own father. He was always jealous of her father, for winning his mother, and having Sky as a daughter, whereas he had no wife, or children. Now that he had Sky all to himself, without her father and mother there to protect her, he would undoubtedly protect her as if she were his own. She planned to use that to her advantage.


End file.
